Gleason's Sporting World: Lou Gehrig's disease is no laughing matter

Points to ponder while wondering how even the dopiest of dopey sports-talk radio personalities could find it humorous to mock a guy with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Kevin Gleason

Points to ponder while wondering how even the dopiest of dopey sports-talk radio personalities could find it humorous to mock a guy with Lou Gehrig's disease.

But that is precisely what three morons from an Atlanta station did to former Saints player Steve Gleason (no relation). This isn't about a couple Howard Stern wannabes saying something dumb and moving on, which in and of itself would have been considered idiotic. These guys performed an entire skit poking fun at Gleason for his inability to speak because of the devastating effects of the disease.

"My apologies to everyone,'' one of the jerk hosts said on Twitter. "It was a stupid attempt at humor that backfired. Emphasis on stupid.''

No, it wasn't stupid. It was a couple stratospheres dumber than stupid, one of the stupidest things I've ever heard, dumber than the dumbest humor, recklessly cruel and degrading to a man on borrowed time. Emphasis on "unbelievable."

All three guys were fired, and Gleason accepted their apologies. Everyone makes mistakes, he said.

But it's hard to imagine this kind of mistake, just as it's hard to imagine prospective employers willing to give these guys another job.

Yup, we all make mistakes. But the guys who made this mistake need to find another line of work.

Far be it for us media folks to blow things out of proportion — wink, wink — but the portrait of a huge crowd leaving Miami's American Airlines Arena at the end of regulation of Game 6 looked more like a hundred or so people to me.

And though we like to poke fun at Miami fans, most of it deserved, I guarantee a portion of most fan bases would have hit the exits with their team down five and 28.2 seconds left.

That doesn't mean those fans are less dedicated and loyal, just not particularly NBA smart. They should have known that five-point leads in the NBA, even with 28.2 seconds left, are far from secure.

Imagine the outcry toward their medical staff if four high-profile Mets players, and not four established Yankees, returned to the sidelines with similar injuries the way Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis and Alex Rodriguez did?

Maybe I'm just being stubborn, but I'm still unable to view LeBron James with the same reverence that I have for Michael Jordan.

Maybe some day.

Not now.

Not after James won his second NBA title after the Heat were handed Game 6 by the Spurs.

I'm not "hating" LeBron — I'm not. He is an all-time great at the age of 28.

He also has some work to do before he can share the throne with Michael.

I realize that Jets center Nick Mangold is chummy with Mark Sanchez. But it does nobody any good for Mangold to fully endorse Sanchez as the Jets' starting quarterback in June.

Because there is, presumably, a lot of football to be played before the Jets name their starter, and it's certainly within the realm of possibility that the starter will be rookie Geno Smith.

And if that happens, it will also be within the realm of possibility that at least one crucial player and leader in the Jets' locker room thinks the team chose the wrong quarterback.

Mangold is, what we call in the media, a go-to player for perspective and quotes. He is accommodating, engaging, honest and smart. But given the uncertainty surrounding the position, Mangold would have been better off taking a wait-and-see approach before wrapping his arms around a quarterback who stunk up the field last season.

The more links coming out between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch, the more I'm convinced there's a video out there of them playing racquetball at the Greater Miami YMCA.

Bob Costas apologized to the Mets for poking fun at their walk-off win over the Cubs. I'm sure he also felt badly for choosing to rip a method of celebration over a couple hundred other legitimate criticisms earned by the franchise.

Dave Jennings deserved many more years to shine his light of professionalism, grace and humility on the rest of us.

If you think Chad Johnson is one of those fun-loving, happy-go-lucky guys who deserves another shot in the NFL, check out the photos of his wife, Evelyn Lozada, obtained by TMZ following the couple's domestic dispute in August.

Check out the nasty gashes above Lozada's right eye.

I find it somewhat interesting that Darrelle Revis, who fought the Jets over every penny in salary, had no problem reportedly dropping 50K to wrestle uniform No. 24 from Bucs teammate Mark Barron.

FedEx Field has a new grass surface, probably not a bad idea after Robert Griffin III's knee went herky-jerky the last time he played on it.

But what's remarkable about this field, I'm told, is that it sends special signals into Mike Shanahan's headphones informing him when to take RGIII out of the game with a wobbly leg.

Matt Harvey+Zack Wheeler=WOW!

Let's face it, there are only a handful of pitchers who consistently bring no-hit stuff to the park, who threaten to do something special every time they get the baseball.

Harvey is one of those guys.

And though it's early, Wheeler might be one of those guys as well.

You never know how it will turn out, because baseball arms are the most unpredictable limbs in sports. But when these guys take the mound, amid the kind of supporting cast that surrounded Sanchez last fall, Mets fans can feel remarkably proud of a team that has let them down for years.

kgleason@th-record.com;

Twitter: @th_KevinGleason

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